The present invention relates to a dispenser and more particularly to a dispenser for use in dispensing commodities packaged in tubes.
It has long been known to package a wide variety of commodities in collapsible tubes. Such collapsible tubes exhibit certain advantages over other packaging methods but it can be difficult to fully evacuate the tube. Toothpaste is often quoted to exemplify such difficulties. The problems associated with squeezing a toothpaste tube in the middle, rather than systematically beginning at the end remote from the outlet and squeezing the paste toward the outlet, are well known and require no further explanation. A number of dispensers have been proposed in the past some of them being specifically designed for dispensing toothpaste. Some of the known dispensers operate on the principle of passing the tube between a pair of rollers or camming surfaces whereby to squeeze the contents of the tube toward the outlet. A key or knurled knob is usually provided to operate such dispensers. However, the dispensers are often inconvenient and difficult to operate. For example, when toothpaste is to be dispensed the dispenser must be supported, the key or knob turned to squeeze paste from the tube and the toothbrush positioned at the tube outlet. This manoeuvre requires three separate and distinct operations and thus either the dispenser or the brush need to be supported by a wall, bench, shelf etc. leaving the hands free to perform the remaining two operations. It has been proposed to overcome such difficulties by affixing the dispenser to a wall as shown for example in U.S. Pat. No. 2,537,008 (Abbott). However, the convenience and adaptibility of such fixed dispensers is severely limited.
Hand-held dispensers previously proposed are exemplified by U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,510,848 (Hubbard); 1,876,489 (Collins); and 2,759,636 (Albert). All of these dispensers, however, suffer from one or more difficulties. For example, Collins and Albert both propose separate arms hingedly connected to one another. Such hinges are relatively expensive to manufacture and join, and the hinge provides a point of potential weakness. In addition, the closure or other means for retaining the tube between the arms has often proved a potential difficulty. In Albert, for example, slots are provided to receive the end of the tube, however such slots tend to weaken the arm. In addition a weakness may develop in the wall of the tube adjacent the fold which may cause the wall to split and allow the contents to escape. In Collins the arms are encased by an outer body. This requires additional materials and fabricating and hence results in increased costs. Further, there in no positive connection between the closure and the body so that clearance tolerances become critical for efficient operation.
In Hubbard the closure is permanently in place making it difficult to insert a tube into the dispenser. Further in this proposal the position of the neck may alter as the arms are squeezed together.
Although it is many years since dispensers of the present type were first proposed deficiencies still exist in the known prior art and accordingly there still exists a need for a dispenser which is simple and efficient to load and operate and which is relatively easy and cheap to produce in volume.